Lucifer Bridge poetry book

White Water Dash

2010-10-09T13:51:00.001-07:00

White Water Dash

Within these dark dread hills I fear
Are shadows lying deep and drear
Yet by the beck is green and bold
White Water Dash to me behold!

Cascading down the mountainside
Towards the mere where secrets hide
This hidden place of mystery
Dark shadows cast by the wind-blown tree.

The light is failing below Dead Mans Fell
And the river flows down into the darkened dell
The desolate valley stretches wide
In the mist and rain by the riverside.

So within these dark dread hills I fear
Where shadows lie, foreboding near
But by the beck 'tis green and bold
White Water Dash take me, take hold!

Written at the Back O' Skiddaw November 1997

Ascending Orb of Bloody Night

2010-10-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

Ascending Orb of Bloody Night

The Ascending Orb
Of Bloody Night
Transfixes me with
Dark delight.

And Black Tiamat
Is drawing near
In her monstrous cave
We cower in fear!

And the bloodied moon
Lights our way
Into the amethyst womb
Of dark dismay

Equinox mother
Looming bright
Night-mare comforter
Of eternal night.

The crimson moon
Sails the bitter sea
With viscous veins
Slowly drowning me.

The pivotal point
Of balance nears
Magnifying all of
Our dreams and fears,

Terrifying creatures
Of the dreadful deep
Lure me into a
Fitful sleep

And the moon still
Shines on the salty sea
Beneath tentacled monsters
Unnerving me.

The nautical
Undines swimming near
The sullen song
Of the siren instilling fear,

Whilst white Gulls flap by the
Breaking surf
Their screeching cries
Abounding mirth?

The receding moon illuminates
The indigo night
Equinoctial tides rise
with magnetic might.

Invoking primordial Nammu
From the chaotic realm
From deep watery beginnings
Standing by the helm

Of the blood stained moon
Which perpetually shines
Upon the deep sinister waters
Primeval, divine!

Octave of the Autumnal Equinox 2008

Helena

2010-10-09T03:07:00.000-07:00

Above: Elen, Lady of Nature by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Helena

Divine heavenly host
Sent from above
Beyond the veil of dreams
Helena, ghostly instiller of beauty
In this green and beautiful
Valley, whence
The quicksilver river flows -
Camel of the west
Great snaking river
Moving through the
Sacred enclosure
Of your divine intervention
Landscape Sovereign of
Ancient place
The elbowed river
Travelling towards the north
Silver-singing artery of life
Running from the misty upland moor
To Atlantic rollers crashing
Against the massive darkened
Sea-stained craggy serrated cliffs
This secret celestial valley
Sanctified, soft and peaceful
Hidden site of blissful repose
Fed by the old straight track
From other places, abodes and realms
Lady of dreams
Light up the morn with
Your ancient light
Oh Lady of sunrise
Goddess of sunset
Take us to your eternal home
The secret space from
Whence you perpetually reside
By the flowing river, where the reindeer hide
In your esoteric time-spun enclosure
At the edge of the wild gorse-tangled upland
Of the arcane sea-clad Celtic fringe!
Holy Helena, treasure seeker
Truth inspirer, love desirer
Nature's finest resurrection
Autumn leaves glow introspection
Natural spirit come to me
Eternal quester, confider, jester
Nature's soul-womb eternally,
Quietly found in this
Iconic medieval landscape
By mill and trackway
You travel by half-light
Manifesting through dreams
Where once you were queen
O'er the bridge which spans
Your waterway bright
Sylvan spirit
Light of light!
The cosmic dance of river flow
Elfin track and wind strewn rain
Find us, teach us
Take us back
From whence you came -
Our landscape lady Elen ran
Through the ancient roads where life began.
Oh Helland Goddess of the
Green-track, guardian of the antlered ones
Show us your story, your mystic ray
Spreading light and joy through the endless day!

Helland Bridge, August 2009

Dionysus

2010-10-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Above: Neo Oberon by Yuri Leitch

Dionysus

Masked and robed with vegetation
In a clearing he stands
Inspiring poet-prophets and madmen
From far-distant lands.

Deep in the forest
By the vineyard clearing,
Dancing in ecstasy
Temperature searing.

Naked at the temple
One upon one,
Metamorphosis:
Entwined eternal!

Tumultuous God Dionysus -
Revealer of dreams,
Within his theatre
All is not what it seems.

The Ghost Ship of Porthcurno

2010-10-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Above: Original artwork by Paul Atlas-Saunders

The Ghost Ship of Porthcurno

Along the lines of antiquated communication
Within a stones throw of the
Ancient Logan Rock
Traditional place of initiations of
The ancient folk of fey
Pristine golden sand, glows in the sunlight
Illuminating the cove,
Softly sharing the space with
The sparkling crystalline granitic cliffs
Worn smooth by the insatiable tides and
Swelling waters of the alluring
Mesmerising Atlantic!
This soft contagious place!
Backdrop scenery of a million pictures
Of family holidays and
Romantic canoodling couples
Honeymooning together in the warm
Cornish sun!
The bay of white sand caressing the toes of
Pilgrims and travellers and seekers of history
And mystery of the old
Hermitage and secret spring
Issuing from the clifftops from the secret abode
Of sages, priests and shamans of a golden past?

But as sunset approaches
A different mystery unfolds!
On certain nights, when the white shining moon
Peeks through scudding black billowing clouds
Sailing across the menacing
Dismal starry sky with
The feeling of a thousand
Demons watching from above
This cove is transformed,
The stage is set for another tall tale
That will terrify and astonish one and all...
For darkness has fallen, and the grey bell is tolling
The bell of the Goblin is ringing at sea
The Goblin is coming, from the deepest dark ocean
As we observe from the shadowy tortuous
Covert corners of the
Moon-bathed village streets, with
Terrifying anticipation.
Ding, ding, ding
Tolls the bell,
Reverberating, advancing across the bay
The moon shining full lighting her way
Creaking and a groaning,
She sails closer for inspection
By the invisible deck-hands and the
Demonic admiralty!
The dismal smell of decay rises above the sand.

Then at once,
She mysteriously appears
A fine ancient ghost-ship,
Close to the beach
Billowing ghostly fog abounds
Swirling and dancing
With dark ragged flags fluttering
On the deathly night air
Torn sails flapping with the
Creak and groan of deaths inevitable grasp
The Dark Ship is with us
As she sails above the sand
Towards the village,
Crashing through unseen waters,
Seeking all who wish to hide
From this deliciously devilish scene!
Searching, hunting those souls
Whom she has left behind.